


Hubristic

by Finian



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: M/M, Nonbinary Orochimaru, Other, Trans Orochimaru (Naruto), Trans Uzumaki Naruto, cute dinner date, smut in chapter 2, theyby orochimaru, transmasc naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21913564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finian/pseuds/Finian
Summary: “I just always felt like gender was something I was actively doing, you know? Like keeping up a tough genjutsu, or the first time I tried to walk on water.” He sighed, leaning his front half so far down that his cheek pressed against the wood of the table, muffling his words. “I got so tired of it all the time.”“Had you considered stopping?” Orochimaru drummed their nails- perfect and long as always, how they managed that was incredible- against the same wood. He could feel the vibrations in his face. “You can, you know. Who could stop you?”
Relationships: Orochimaru/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	Hubristic

**Author's Note:**

> a few things! i don't know where in canon this takes place- somewhere between everything settling down and also where naruto has boruto. who he carried himself even if we'll literally never get to that in this, thank you very much.
> 
> orochimaru uses they/them, naruto is a transmasc nonbinary dude who uses he/him. i'm the author and i use he/they and i'm also trans so this is coming from a place of personal experience! i've always thought that naruto's whole character arc and the jinchuriki thing kind of meshed well with the trans experience and also cis people could never wear clothes as wonderful as naruto's classic jacket, let's be real.
> 
> naruto in this is in his 20s. probably 23. orochimaru is functionally immortal.

If there was one thing Naruto Uzumaki could pick out, it was the smell of fresh noodles. Real fresh ones, not half-cooked packaged stuff from the market- there was no way. He hadn’t gone through the effort of making noodles from scratch just because their dinner plans had been moved inside after the summer heat had caused a few rolling blackouts. It wasn’t like he hadn’t offered his help anyways, floating around the kitchen until his hand had been smacked at one too many times while a giant ice cube of stock melted in the pot on the stove.

“Dinner, Naruto.” It might as well have come from a megaphone with the way it made him jump, the promise of dinner- he was hungrier than he’d realized, “Could you help me carry it in?”

“Are we eating in here?” He picked himself up off the couch, leaving his jacket behind. He barely made it through the door of the kitchen before a tray was pressed into his hands, two absolutely overloaded bowls of ramen balanced on either side. A direct route to his heart.

“I thought it might be nice to sit and eat in a bit more casual fashion, if that’s alright with you.” When Orochimaru turned to face him again with an unlabelled bottle of alcohol in one hand and two cups in the other, Naruto realized there was as second direct route to his heart. Ramen and alcohol, he was a cheap date. This wasn’t a date. He shook himself out of the moment, turning and carrying the tray out into the Sannin’s living room- for lack of a better place to put it, he set it in the middle of the coffee table before sitting down against it. Casual must have meant sitting down on the floor, he rationalized, fingers brushing against the soft carpet. He’d been into their home a few times, and every time, he was more and more surprised with how domestic things were. The bookshelf in the hall, the photos framed on the walls, the throw blanket over the back of the couch- he was so distracted by it all that he didn’t realize Orochimaru had sat down next to him until there was a cup of alcohol in front of him. 

He didn’t think before he picked it up, crossing his legs as he watched the other shinobi settle in. He always felt a little underdressed around them, a black shirt next to their tied robe tops, his messy shock of hair next to the way they twisted theirs up and pinned it in place with some of the fanciest hair pins that Naruto had ever seen. _Inadequate_ , a voice echoed in the back of his mind, _you feel inadequate_. It might have been Kurama, it might have been his own self-doubt, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it long enough to find out. 

There was a hand on his face, turning him, and he didn’t hesitate to move with it. Orochimaru smiled, swiping their thumb across his lip, before pulling away again. His heart stopped, stuttering in his chest, and he was sure that they knew it.

“What’s on your mind, Naruto? Tell me.”

\---

The conversation rounded back the way it always did when he was with them. No matter what they started on, the moment he got some alcohol in him, he started positioning his heart on his sleeve.

“I just always felt like gender was something I was actively doing, you know? Like keeping up a tough genjutsu, or the first time I tried to walk on water.” He sighed, leaning his front half so far down that his cheek pressed against the wood of the table, muffling his words. “I got so tired of it all the time.”

“Had you considered stopping?” Orochimaru drummed their nails- perfect and long as always, how they managed that was incredible- against the same wood. He could feel the vibrations in his face. “You can, you know. Who could stop you?”

“But that’s the problem- when it was good, it was really good. I felt good. Then the rest of the time it was like playing catch up with myself.” His ramen sat abandoned, though he’d made it through most of the pork belly that had been laid on top. If he didn’t get around to it soon, the noodles would start breaking down and all of Orochimaru’s hard work would be wasted.

“When did it feel good?” They spoke up again, keeping up that rhythmic tap-tap-tap. Claws. For a moment, Naruto thought of his own. If it were anyone else, he might have asked them to stop.

“When I was with people, I think. I didn’t have to worry about it when I was with people I loved.” He sat up, then, propping his chin in his hand. The gesture was lazy, but it was good enough to get at his food. “When I was with Sasuke, you know, it wasn’t ever like ‘Naruto, I’m going to kick your ass, and also you are holding up to societal standards of being a man, good job, I’m watching you on that’, it was just easy.”

“He has that effect. For all of his bristling and spines, he can make you feel much more like yourself.” Even though he wasn’t looking, Naruto could feel the second drink they’d poured themselves. He held his cup out as he took his first bite- it was good. These dinner nights were good, maybe he’d have to hope for blackouts more often. “Anyone that loves you can.”

“I can’t wrap my head around it.” He groaned, dropping his chopsticks back into the bowl. One bounced, falling and rolling and leaving a trail of broth in its wake, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. “He loves me and I love him and we both know it and he won’t do anything about it. And whenever I try to do something about it, he gets _weird_.”

“Of all the things wrong around here, for once, that one isn’t my fault.” They laughed, a high sound like bells or glass, “If it’s our arrangement that he dislikes-“

“He doesn’t care. He’s got stuff like that. This.” Naruto gestured between the two of them with his drink before pressing his lips to the ceramic rim, thinking about sipping. His words bounced around over the alcohol when he spoke. “Whatever this is.” The two of them had avoided putting any words to their relationship. It had started professionally, dinner once a week to discuss Orochimaru’s new, more humane experiments- Kakashi had come along more than once, even, but the longer Naruto spent around them, the less on edge he was. It felt like the demon in him was settling in and recognizing that they were no longer a threat, and he could actually sit and enjoy the food he was getting.

And then things began shifting. Knuckles brushed, eyes lingered- looking back now, it was mostly him doing the lingering like some horny teenager, but the older shinobi never seemed to mind. They laughed the first time Naruto got drunk enough to try to kiss them, righting him and pressing their lips together properly after he’d managed to get them half on the cheek and almost break both of their noses in the process.

“What do you want this to be?” They spoke up, reaching over to take the fishcake from Naruto’s bowl with their chopsticks. It was such a human thing to do. Orochimaru did a lot of human things- and in the most charming ways. That wasn’t what he wanted to be thinking about, this was a strictly platonic situation, this was just dinner between friends who happened to get a little physically intimate at times.

 _It doesn’t have to be._ That one was for sure Kurama, he could tell by the way his teeth ached and his hands twitched. He buried the feeling as he took up his own chopsticks again. 

“I don’t know.” It was harsher than he’d meant it to be, but he couldn’t stop now. “I’m frustrated, and I don’t know what I want anymore, and it’s your fault for being so- ugh.” He bent over his ramen, trying to channel his frustration into eating it even as he almost choked on a noodle.

“You know, I’ve been called many things- no few amount from you- but this might be the first time I’ve been called ‘ugh’.” They laughed again- it made his heart ache. That was rude of him. When his bowl was empty and his drink wasn’t far behind, he leaned his head back against the seat of the couch.

“Sorry. I really like you, you know, I don’t know why that’s so hard to handle. Probably because you’re- not to fuel your whole god complex, but you’re incredible.” He smiled at the ceiling, almost comforted by the way the plaster cracked and discolored, some little imperfections.

“God complex unfueled, no need to worry.” They stood, reaching down to gather up Naruto’s bowl. “I like you as well. You don’t have to decide what you want right now.”

**Author's Note:**

> chapter 2 will have smut! sasuke will show up i promise!
> 
> as always i have no beta readers because my friends who i love either are not that far into naruto or don't know it well enough to give feedback on the content and not just the writing. if you notice a glaring error let me know! if you notice me throwing canon out the window that's on purpose!
> 
> comments are my favorite thing in the world and will get me to get more chapters out fast even if your comment is just a heart emoji! :)


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